Joe Biden

The title of former Senator and Vice President Joe Biden's speaking tour, American Promise, alludes to a reality that could've been, as well as the questions on everyone's mind about how our country should move forward. In his new book Promise Me, Dad: A Year Of Hope, Hardship, And Purpose, and in interviews, Biden more or less confirms that he would likely have sought the Democratic Party nomination for president in the 2016 election had his son Beau not died of brain cancer in 2015. He's also hinted at running in 2020. It's hard to argue that the United States would not be in a better place now with Biden as our president—at the very least, he wouldn't be overtly working to persecute the US's historically marginalized groups, and probably wouldn't sign any legislation as odious as the GOP's looming tax scam. But let's not mistake him for a savior or erase his many low points: his treatment of Anita Hill, his support of a 1994 crime bill that escalated mass incarceration, his support for the Iraq War. Biden has recently been tuned up on sexual assault, but like most Clinton-era Democrats, he's yet to really address the damage done by ramping up the wars on drugs and terror. Sure, Uncle Joe may be a reassuring character, and a man who's endured horrific personal losses and is capable of behaving like an adult. But this tour is a symptom of how easily liberals can be seduced by cults of personality, whether it be Uncle Joe, cool-parent Hillary or Socialist Larry David Bernie. —Henry Solo